Hand vacuum cleaner



May 31, 1932. J. F. CARSON HAND VACUUM CLEANER Filed Jan. 25, 1950Invent or Jesse. F. C arson, [Wu/814a HLs ACT. ovne tached b 'brush 6 oragitating the dirt in the surface Patented May 31, 1932 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE was: I. CARSON, OI CLEVELAND, OHIO, ABSIGNOB .lO nae-rareVACUUI cmum OOIPANY, INC 01' CLEVELAND, OHIO, A. CORPORATION OI m YORKHAND VAQUUIGLRAIEB Application filed January 85, 1980. mm Io. SJ.

The resent invention relates to small vacuum c eaners of the t pe havinga rigid handle aflixed thereto by means of WhlCh the cleaner may bemoved by the hand of the operator over the surface to be cleaned.

The object of my invention is the provision of an improved small vacuumcleaner for the purpose described, in which the outside dust collectingbag is dispensed with and in its place is substituted a dust filteringmeans which is located within a metallic casing where it will notinterfere with the handling of the cleaner in any way.

For a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention,attention is directed to the accompanying description and the claimsappended thereto.

Inthe drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaner illustrative ofthe invention; Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the parts thereof, and Fig.3 is an axial section of the same.

5 indicates the nozzle which has the usual rectan ular opening toreceive the dust laden air. 0 one of the walls of the nozzle is atscrewsor other suitable means a being cleaned and to assist the nozzle inpicking up threads, etc. The inlet part of the nozzle is connected by arelatively long neck 7 to the center of the casing 8 of the suction fan,said parts being cast in one piece. The fan casing is annular and concentrio with the axis of the fan driving motor, instead of being scrollshaped and having a discharge conduit on one side as is the standardpractice. The fan 9 has suitable blades and is wholly within the fancasing, as best shown in Fig. 3. The casing has a shoulder 10 on oneside to receive the tubular casing or enclosure 11 which completelyencloses all of the driving motor and also the dust filtering orcollecting means. To the enclosure is rigidly attached a handle 12,usually of wood to reduce the weight, by any suitable means. The rearwall of the enclosure is provided with a circularopening 13 throughwhich air is discharged after being freed of dust by the separating orfiltering means.

15 indicates a small high speed electric motor having a suitable fieldmagnet 16, an

armature 17 and a shaft 18. The motor parts are enclosed in acylindrical metal casing 19 havmg heads 20 and 21 which support the ballbearings for the shaft. The front head 21 1s smaller in diameter thanthe inner wall of the fan casing and is su ported from the latter byradial lugs 22 0 which four are shown. This arrangement affords anannular olpemng 23, except for the space occupied by t e In s, throughwhich dust laden air from the an 9 flows into and axially within theenclosure 11. Attached to the rear head 20 of the motor casing as bymeans of short studs 24 is a head 25 of ring form, Fig. 2, WhlCh hasradial lugs 26. The heads 21 and 25 are secured to the fan casing bylongitudinal bolts 27 of which four are shown. These bolts pass throughthe lugs in the heads and are seated in bosses 28 formed on the innerwall of the fan casing, as best shown in Fig. 2. The effect of thisarrangement is to securely support the electric motor and its drlven fanin concentric relation with the fan caslng. In addition to receiving theclamping bolts 27 the outer or peripheral ends of the lugs 26 engage theinner wall of the enclosure 11 and center it in the plane thereof.

Located at the front end of the motor casing is a series of ventilatingopenings 30 through which a limited amount of air is circulated throu hthe motor by means of the ventilating in 31 carried by the shaft 18 nearits rear end. Adjacent the fan and in the same plane are segmentalopenings 32 in the motor casing through which the air heated in itsassage through'the motor is discharged. nly one of these openings isshown, the other being on the back side. The particular number or arranement of these openings is not material so ong as they afford suflicientoutlet for the cooling air which by reason of the location of thecirculating fan 31 acts to flow outwardl and at the same time preventthe inflow o dust laden air in this region. From the description thusfar' 'ven it will be seen that the dust ladened a1r from the suction fan9 flows in a relativel thin annular stream from the front towar the rearof the cleaner and that the cooling air from the circulating fan 31 isdischarged in a direction perpendicular thereto. It 1s apparent with themotor totally enclosed by the outer casing that an active circulation ofair should be maintained to prevent overheating. This is taken care ofin two Ways, first by the flow of air through the internal parts of themotor and second by the flow of dust laden air over the peripheralsurface of the metal motor casing 19, the arrangement bein such that thevolume of the dust ladened air is much greater than that of thecirculating air. The fact that the air inlet openings 30 are close tothe front head 21, are in a part of smaller diameter and are protected bthe'head 21 means that very little dust wil pass through them becausethe stream from the suction fan is moving with relatively high velocity,which carries the dust particles beyond the openings.

Considering now the means for separating or filterin the dust from theair enterin through the inlet of the nozzle, an annlilar perforatedsupport 33 is provided, the diameter of which is somewhat greater thanthat of the motor casing. As shown, the support is made of coarse meshwire screening in the form of a tube with the abutting edges soldered orotherwise united. This support is held between the heads 21 and 25, andas before stated these heads are clamped in spaced relation by the bolts27, all of which makes for simplicity of construction. The tubularsupport is covered or wrapped with a suitable number of layers of thinporous paper 34 and since the flow of air is inward the paper is amplysup- .ported by the wire screening. A variety of papers may be used forthis purpose provided they do not unduly restrict the flow of air andprovided they effectively screen or filter the dust from the air. As aprotectin'g and retaining means for the paper it is wrapped or woundwith a layer of thin porous cloth 34, the whole forming a tubularfilter. As there would naturally be a joint in the cloth it may be sewedor cemented at such joint.

At the rear end of the cleaner is a second and smaller filter orseparator of the same general construction as the first. It comprises aspool-like support 35, the barrel of which has a large number ofperforations 36 a few of which are shown in Fig. 2. The right hand endflange 36' is secured in place by the studs or bolts 24 which aresecured in the end head 20 of the motor casing. The flange fits againstthe end head 25 as best shown in Fig. 3. The head 25 thus serves notonly to support and center the motor within the outer casing orenclosure 11 but the two filtering meansas well. Because the enclosurehas to be readily removable it is undesirable to fasten the support 35to it but on the other hand a tight joint is needed at this point toprevent the escape of dust ladened air. This is accomplished b mountinga compressible packing ring 3 on the support between the left hand endflange 38 and the rear end wall of the enclosure 11. When the enclosureis fitted in place the ring is held under a light compression. Thefiltering means is of the same construction as the larger one previouslydescribed.

In use the dust laden air flows throu h the nozzle due to the suctionfan 9 and is discharged at the periphery of the fan from which it flowsin an annular stream toward the rear. As the only escape for the air isthrough the opening 13 in the outer casing the air will first flowinwardly through the filtering means and then axially. That portion ofthe air which flows through the larger filter passes around the lefthand end head of the motor into the space 39 between it and the head 25and thence through the central opening in the spool-like support to theopening 13. The balance of the air is filtered as it flows inwardlythrough the smaller filter into the central opening Where it oins theother stream.

In order to remove the accumulated dirt from the filter the outer casingor enclosure 11 with its handle are separated by a relatively endwisemovement of the parts to expose the filters. For this purpose theenclosure and fan casing are united by a pair of releasable latches 40,the details of which are immaterial so long as they operate to securelyunite the parts. As shown, each comprises a pivoted link 41 and aclamping cam 42 which is seated on a small boss on the fan casing. Afterthe parts are separated the dust may be shaken from the filters bylightly rapping the same, or a soft brush may be used for the purpose.

Current is supplied to the motor by means of a suitable attachment plug43 and the usual leads.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. In a vacuum cleaner, the combination of a nozzle, a suction fancommunicating with the nozzle, an annular casing for the fan, anelectric motor driving the fan, a tubular enclosure for the motor havinga discharge opening in its rear end, a means for releasably clamping thefront end of the enclosure to the fan casing, a head for supporting themotor in concentric spaced relation to the fan casing and enclosure andaround which dust ladened air is free to pass to the filter, a secondhead attached to the rear end of the motor for supporting the enclosurein spaced relation to the motor, said head having an opening throughwhich filtered air passes, a tubular filtering means within theenclosure and in spaced concentric relation to it and the motor whichextends longitudinally of the motor, a perforated support for the filterheld at its ends by said heads, and a conduit means located between therear head andthe rear wall of the enclosure for conveying air to thedischarge '0 hingl of the enclosure 5 after it has passed t roug thefilter.

' 2. In a vacuum cleaner, the combination of a' nozzle, a suction fancommunicating 'with the nozzle, an electric motor for driving the fan, acasing for the fan, an enclosure 1n surrounding the motor in spacedrelation thereto which has a dischar e opening at the rear, a tubularfilter inside the enclosure, said filter surroundin the motor andreceiving dust ladened air rom the fan, a second tubular filter situatedbetween the rear end of the motor and the rear end of the enclosure andfitting over the discharge opening, and supports for the filters"through which supports air' flows to the dischar e opening.

3. In a vacuum cleaner, t e combination of a nozzle, a suction fancommunicating with the nozzle a casing therefor, an electric motor fordriving the fan, a casing for the motor, a tubular enclosure for themotor communicating with the fan casing and having a discharge ening inits rear wall, heads which support t e motor and retain it and theenclosure in spaced concentric relation, a tubular filtering meanslocated between the enclosure and the motor casing supported by saidheads, and receiving dust ladened air from the fan, a second tubularfiltering means located between one of the heads and the rear wall ofthe enclosure surrounding the dis- -charge opening and through which airreceived from the filtering means is discharged through said opening.

4. n a vacuum cleaner, the combination of a nozzle, a suction fan, anelectric motor for driving the fan, a casing for the motor, a tubularenclosure for the motor in spaced relation thereto having a dischargeopenin a casing for the fan in communication wit the nozzle, ahead fixedto the motor casing, means securing said head to the fan casing, atubular filter which surrounds the motor and is in spaced relation tothe enclosure, the said fan casing opening into the enclosureat a pointoutside the periphery of the said tubular filter, a head WhlCh supportsthe rear end of the filter and is in spaced relation with the rear endof the motor, and a second tubular filter which is seated on the lastnamed head at one end and at the other I end makes a tight fit about thedischarge opening of the enclosure.

5. In a vacuum cleaner, the combination of a nozzle, a suction fancommunicating with the nozzle, a casing therefor, a motor for on drivingthe fan, acylindrical enclosure one end of which engages the fan casingand is releasably clamped thereto and has a discharge opening in itsrear wall, said enclosure surrounding the motor in spaced relationthereto and a pair of tubular filtering means,

one of which surrounds the motor in spaced relation to it and to theenclosure and receivin dust ladened air from the fan, the other beingsituated between one end of the motor and the rear wall of the enclosureand surrounding the discharge opening for conveying filtered air to saiddischarge opening.

6. In a vacuum cleaner, the combination of a nozzle, a suction fancommunicating with the nozzle, a casing therefor, a motor for drivin thefan, a cylindrical enclosure, one end 0 which engages the fan casing andwhich is releasably clamped thereto and has a discharge opening in itsrear wall, said enclosure surrounding the motor in spaced relationthereto and receiving dust ladened air from the fan, and a pair oftubular filtering means arranged end to end, one of which surrounds themotor in spaced relation to it and to the enclosure and receiving dustladened air from the fan, the other being situated be tween the rear endof the motor and the rear wall of the enclosure and surrounding thedischarge opening'for conveying filtered air to said discharge openinand a packing between the rear end of t e second filter and the rearwall of the enclosure to prevent esca e of unfiltered air.

In a hand vacuum cleaner, the combination of a nozzle, a suction fancommunicating with the nozzle, an annular casing for the fan, internalshouldered means on the fan casing, an electric motor, a removableenclosure surrounding themotor in spaced relation thereto and supportedat its front end by the fan casing and having a discharge opening in itsrear wall, a casing for the motor to protect it from dust-laden air, apair of disks supportin the motor and its casing, means on the dis s forsupporting the motor and the casing in spaced relation to the enclosure,the means on one disk being secured to the shouldered means andaffording a passage for dust-laden air, and those on the other engagingthe inner wall of the enclosure, a filter surrounding the motor casingin spaced rela tion to it and the enclosure, the outer surface of whichis exposed to the dust-laden air from the nozzle and fan, a secondtubular filter of smaller diameter than the first located between therear disk and the rear wall of the enclosure and seated on said wallaround the discharge opening therein, and a handle secured to the casingfor moving the cleaner.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 18th day of J anuar1930.

JESSE F. C RSON.

